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To B or to F? long winded "help me decide!" Posted By: acslam On: 01-03-2008 @ 14:46:10 Reply | Edit Okay, I am riding a thin line here. Got myself a 95 Caprice 9c1, and it's a great, dependable car and acceptably quick for it's size. But I want a little better fuel economy, stickshift, and open air of some kind (would really love a convertible). I've got a truck, so I guess I can make the truck haul the stuff that the caprice would. Recently I've gotten the F-body itch though. Always wanted to try out an LS1 car, a firebird specifically....so I did. And I'm kinda hooked. Only problem is justifying switching from my 60k mile 4400lb LT1 into a 3600lb LS1. Will I see some economy gains going from mine to the bird? every time I add up what it would take to make my car go like a stock bird, I hit around 10k in mods and for that I could buy the F body and be done with it! If I sold my car and had a total of around the 10k mark to work with, could I afford an LS1 Bird with an M6 that was decent enough to justify it as a true upgrade to something that was newer and more reliable? I tested a 2002 WS6 T/A Convertible, guy around me has it for 18k, 21k miles, but a salvage title car......story goes it was hit in the rear, two new quarter skins, and Amica insurance bought it back because the owners weren't happy with the repair work. Car didn't feel funny, had the basic catback, K&N and hypertech done to it, and crawling underneath it looked fine. But....i couldn't feel right about a salvage title unibody.... Could you guys input? Is the car worth ANYTHING at all? Honestly, it rode and drove fine, and was in the absolute most drop dead gorgeous shape i've ever seen a "used" car. The guy let me cruise knowing right off that my financial situation probably wouln't allow for 18k purchase, I was impressed. But.....it was salvaged, and i've always been told don't touch them. I've found another, about 800 miles from me, a white ragtop, seller is a cop and an T/A enthusiast in general. Cool guy, we BS'ed back and forth for awhile. Bottom line, 2000 T/A ragtop, white/tan/tan, 94k miles, pics look good, (I know, get an appraiser) 10,900. Guy has several of these and needs the space. Seems like a goo deal.....but 94k miles on a 2000, is that better than my 95 with 60k? I want to justify buying one of these so badly it ain't funny, but can 10k make the mark? (I'll edit this post down ASAP sory it's long) Posted By: PongoX11 On: 05-31-2007 @ 17:42:51 Reply | Top | Edit You will see better fuel economy with an LS1+M6 than an LT1+A4. Of course gas mileage is relative to the driver. I wouldnt buy a salvage title for two reasons: First, they have no resale value and second you never truly know WTF is still wrong with the car, or what potential problems you may have down the road. If $10k is your budget, you might want to either find a way to increase that, or look for a ttop car--since convertibles are generally more expensive. 94k on the clock is not the end for an LS1, but its still kinda high in comparison with other cars that are out there -- Former ride: 531RWHP/477RWTQ Only bolt ons! ...technically everything used a bolt to install Posted By: acslam On: 06-01-2007 @ 00:07:45 Reply | Top | Edit Thanks for the input. The fuel economy alone is just barely enough for me to justify the whole thing! I'm looking at trying to increase my budget to 15k, think that's enough to get what I'm aiming at? I've figure that yeah, i could stand to broaden my requirements to a T-top to save cash. Lighter too, cool side benefit. It'll take me more time. Hoping i can get one before the summer's out! Posted By: kingandrew On: 06-01-2007 @ 12:47:57 Reply | Top | Edit I bought mine with 136k mi on it. No wrecks, clean car. 8k I've only had to rebuild the tranny and replace the rear motor because of the way I drive, but if I drove like a grandpa, those parts might still be in tact. Good luck with your search. -- 
99 m6 Trans Am, Dynatech stainless steel longtubes, 391rwhp, dual cut-outs, SLP CAI, LSX intake,TR224 cam Posted By: PongoX11 On: 06-02-2007 @ 21:11:47 Reply | Top | Edit I've figure that yeah, i could stand to broaden my requirements to a T-top to save cash. Lighter too, cool side benefit. Lighter, and a better spoiler! -- Former ride: 531RWHP/477RWTQ Only bolt ons! ...technically everything used a bolt to install [ Edited on 06/02/2007 @ 21:12:27 ] Posted By: acslam On: 06-03-2007 @ 15:56:37 Reply | Top | Edit Okay, I test drove a white t-top car back to back with a brand new ls2 gto yesterday....... That was fun, to say the least. Its a tough call but I still think I want the trans am. They felt extremely close in the power i was able to give them, (sales guy sitting next to me) the GTO felt heavier while the f-body felt rougher in general. But I love the t-tops and it seems to me that the speed difference is a very closable gap. Anyone know what it takes a stock LS1/M6 f-body to catch up to the LS2 GTO's? From what I've been reading here and at LS1Tech seems as if a good full exhaust will give you 50 of the needed 75hp right away, leaving a tune and intake and then we should be talking equal power levels with the f-body being a lighter car. I want a trans am for the open air and the mean looks, but....i'm sick of being embarassed and slow (caprice SS is a nice pimp car but HEAVY) and my friend went with me because he's about to pull the trigger on a GTO. I wanna beat him and spend half the money doing it, can it be done? Eventually, I want to do my own little stage two on the trans am - I want a turbo kit and heads/cam, done in one motion. I figure I'd get the car and just do what it takes to beat those GTO's first, then save for the turbo and HC swap and be done with it. Posted By: badSol On: 06-04-2007 @ 13:04:34 Reply | Top | Edit LS1 F-Bodies and LS2 GTO's run about the same stock. -- 
1999 Trans Am M6, FRA, K&N, Skip Shift bypass, SLP Radiator, LS1 Motorsports lid, LS1 Motorsports Smooth Bellows Flowtech Long Tube Headers, Lane's Custom True Duals: Dr Gas X-Pipe, 12" Dynomax Bullets, Hotchkis STB, Pro 5.0 Textralia OZ700 clutch, billet steel flywheel, 334.6 rwhp 345.6 rwtq, 2001 Trans Am A4, SLP LM2 Posted By: acslam On: 06-04-2007 @ 17:44:06 Reply | Top | Edit Really? I had hoped so. I couldn't really find much info regarding the specific comparison. I'm still thinking I'm gonna miss the big B car, but getting into something that isn't beat by the damned modern hondas would be nice! Quick dumb question, I notice that people want the 01-02's for the LS6 intake manifold, exactly how great is the benefit to this and is it something that I'll notice if I were to do exhaust/computer tune/intake right off the bat? I know I could do it later, I've even seen some H/C kits that come with it, but should I just go for it in the first purchase? Posted By: tylert14 On: 06-07-2007 @ 15:09:54 Reply | Top | Edit It's all up to what you want. I drove a B body before my Trans Am and I have a special place in my heart for both B and F bodies. In money vs. performance I'd rate them like this (cheapest to most expensive) Lt1 F bodies Lt1 B bodies Ls1 F bodies If you're set on a LS1 F body if you go the F body route and I were in your situation I would just keep the caprice and put the money into it that you would spend on a ls1 F body. Sit down and budget it out but I'm sure if you kept your caprice, got heads and a cam, a eaton posi/ 4.56s and a T56 conversion it would be below the budget of selling your caprice and getting a LS1 F body. Nothing like rowing through 6 gears in a 4400 Lb 4 door car. But in the end it's all about your budget, time, and if you want/ can perform the work yourself. I personally went the Lt1 F body route because I can do the work myself and have a faster better handling car for a fraction of what it would cost in the B body world. If I had the money I would build another B body in an instant though.  --  [ Edited on 06/07/2007 @ 15:12:16 ] Posted By: kingandrew On: 06-07-2007 @ 16:14:13 Reply | Top | Edit Get the TA -- 99 m6 Trans Am, Dynatech stainless steel longtubes, 391rwhp, dual cut-outs, SLP CAI, LSX intake,TR224 cam [ Edited on 06/07/2007 @ 16:15:06 ] Posted By: acslam On: 06-10-2007 @ 18:53:34 Reply | Top | Edit well, I am capable of doing the work myself, but I'm looking at this as my more daily driver mobile, my "toy" car is the old Dodge convertible, and I'd rather dedicate modding time and money to that car and get a nice fun stock package for a daily and not worry about it. The B-car, believe it or not, is actually my "gas mileage" car - my other driver is a dually dump truck, which gets about 10mpg if I'm lucky. The caprice is around 20 average, 23-25 on the highway if I'm reaaaly nice to it. I've heard LS1 F-bodies can get up to 30mpg if treated properly, I'm guessing just from the weight savings. Even if it isn't actually 30mpg, I know it's better mileage than my car could ever get. I'd love to do the caprice with a t-56 and heads and cam, but I've found LS1 F-bodies hovering around the 10k mark for the kind of condition I'm aiming for. So if I could sell my car for 5 and add 5, I've got the F-car, where as I'm not sure that i could make my car competitive for 5k. I'm attracted to everything about the f-cars, open air, factory stickshift, much more power, better economy, better handling and better braking. I could get some of the things for 5k but I can't really figure out how to stretch that money to get EVERYTHING the F-car would get me at once. I dont mind doing a little repair work, as long as I can keep the initial repair investment around 500-1k and be okay to drive the car for about 2 years without having any more large issues. That t-56 roadmaster has me drooling though. What happened to it? didn't get finished or crashed or something? Posted By: tylert14 On: 06-11-2007 @ 00:16:51 Reply | Top | Edit Wrecked into a few little thigs. Got a new front clip and did the frame off resto. Then I gave it to much timing and cracked a cylinder wall. It still needed a crapload of body work and a lot more money to go as fast as I wanted to. So I parted most of it out and kept a few things and got into F bodys. The 383 rotating assembly is going into my new TA and I kept a few other things for a future B body build. --
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